“The Good Wife” was always more of a prestige play than ratings grabber during its seven seasons on CBS, but its series finale on Sunday stood as the evening’s most-watched program and led its timeslot among broadcast networks in key demos.
The Mother’s Day holiday brought its typical decline in television usage, with Nielsen reporting the percentage of adults 18-49 watching during any average minute of primetime Sunday (7-11 p.m.) was 27.8, down 6.1% from last week (29.6). The falloff was largest among women 25-54 (33.9% watching), down 8.1% week to week (from 36.9)
According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, “The Good Wife” averaged a 1.2 rating/4 share in adults 18-49 and 10.5 million viewers overall in the 9 o’clock hour — up week to week by 20% in the demo (from 1.0) and by about 1.3 million total viewers (from 9.19 million). This was the program’s top demo score since January (1.4 on the night of a highly rated NFL overrun for the network) and its largest overall audience since 10.72 million watched the Nov. 9, 2014 episode. “Good Wife” last topped the 10-million viewer mark in January 2015.
“Good Wife” won the 9 p.m. hour among the broadcasters in 18-49 as well as 25-54 (1.9/5) and total viewers. It built on its lead-in from “Madam Secretary” (1.0/4 in 18-49, 10.0 million viewers overall). Written by series creators Robert and Michelle King, the “Good Wife” finale featured few tidy endings, but provided fans with closure to the seven-season rollercoaster ride of Alicia Florrick. The Kings’ new drama, “Brain Dead,” premieres next month on CBS.
